Baby It's Cold Outside
by Tallielle
Summary: This is just a sweet little holiday one-shot that I had playing in my mind for a while. :


**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Castle or any of the characters therein (even though I wish I did). They all belong to ABC (I watch it every week and still managed to say FOX for some reason. I think my mind was in BONESLAND).**

**Baby It's Cold Outside**

_**The neighbors might think – **_

_(Baby, it's bad out there)_

_**Say, what's in this drink –**_

_( No cabs to be had out there)_

_**I wish I knew how –**_

_( Your eyes are like starlight now)_

_**To break this spell –**_

_( I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell)_

_**I ought to say no, no, no, sir – **_

_(Mind if I move a little closer)_

_**At least I'm gonna say that I tried – **_

_(What's the sense in hurting my pride)_

_**I really can't stay – **_

_(Baby don't hold out)_

_**Ahh, but it's cold outside...**_

Kate stepped up to the door and hesitated when raising her hand to knock. She briefly thought that maybe this had been a bad idea, this coming over unannounced, especially when snow was in the forecast. But then again she did always get a bit lonely during the holiday season and Castle's company was definitely better than the handle of Jack she had back at her apartment. Plus, the case they had just close had been unusually hard for the normally tongue-in-cheek mystery writer and she wanted to make sure he was alright. A nebulous feeling of uncertainty swirled up in her chest and she hastily tamped it back down before letting her delicate, gloved hand connect with the fine oak of his apartment door.

"Mmmm." Came the grunt from within. She heard a muffled rustling of papers and material from within and then a clicking of the locks on the interior of the door.

The man that stood in the doorframe looked deliciously warm and rumpled with his hair all askew and his pajamas casually wrinkled. He blinked down at her sleepily before an adorable smile broke open his drowsy features. Kate also swore she saw a slightly rosy tint rise in his cheeks.

"Detective Beckett, what a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone so as you can see I am not dressed for the occasion."

She surveyed him again, her bright eyes taking his cozily domestic appearance. She had to admit, despite herself, that he did look awfully enticing in his plaid flannel pajama pants and simple gray t-shirt. She shook her head a bit; and shoved the warm feeling that was slowly invading her middle back into her pandora's box of locked up emotions.

"What, no smoking jacket?" she quipped, "This isn't what I imagined the great playboy Richard Castle to be lounging by the fireplace in."

He raised an eyebrow at the remark. Two could play at the game of witty banter and he had to admit it was one of his favorite things to engage in with the beautiful NYPD Detective.

"Detective, you mean to tell me you imagine me in my pajamas!"

Her mouth fell open and she had to bite back a surprised laugh. Castle always had a quick retort to her biting comment and it was something about him that both impressed and annoyed her. She pushed past him into the apartment and rolled her eyes as she entered.

"You know that isn't what I meant." Castle shut the door rather hastily behind her. Her eyes roamed around the Castle loft, taking it in all dressed up in it's tasteful Christmas finery, a stark contrast to her own sparsely decorated apartment. She imagined the charming antique touches to have been guided by Martha's hand but she had to admit she saw all of the Castle-Rogers clan reflected perfectly in the choice of holiday décor. A fire burned slowly in an electric fireplace she hadn't previously noticed and a snifter of what looked to be brandy reflected the dancing flames with a twinkle from it's place on the smooth oaken coffee table. She noticed the cracked spine of a book laying facedown on the large chair positioned in front of the fire. She squinted to see if she could make out the title. _Pride and Prejudice. _She fought a smile; she had never taken Castle to be an Austen fan.

"To what do I owe your lovely presence to?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing after that case. I know it...hit closer to home than you are used to." She looked at the ground, recalling the fight she had had with him about working the case. The victim had been a girl around Alexis' age, similar in stature, coloring and background. Her sure-to-be-bright future had been cut off by a sick, low-life pedophile. She brought her eyes back up from the ground and looked at him with an unwavering gaze. She saw him sag a bit and a little of the Castle sparkle she had been dazzled with at the door wore thin. Then she saw him shake it off and push the feeling that had washed over him down into somewhere else, a nasty habit that he had no doubt learned from her.

He hit her with one of those brilliant smiles that stole the breath from her lungs when they caught her off guard.

"We caught the bastard didn't we?" though she protested it at times, she secretly loved his use of "we". He met her eyes. "That is why you are so important to this city, Kate." _And me._ "You take scum like that off the street for good."

The candid honesty that colored his sweetness never failed to pull at Kate's heartstrings. She looked around the apartment again and noticed that it was unusually quiet.

"Where are Alexis and your mother?"

"They flew south with the snowbirds. Mother insists that the cold is bad for her complexion."

Her gaze snapped back to his with an angry spark.

"How long have they been gone?"

He raised his shoulder in a gesture that he sometimes made when she caught him doing something wrong. A sheepish, boyish smile spread across his face. He winced.

"3 days?"

"CASTLE!" Sometimes the man was ridiculous. The fact that he put his life on hold for her all the time was something that incensed her and made her love him all at once.

He shrugged. "I couldn't just leave you in the middle of a case..." he paused. Then, "Really bad for research flow. Plus sometimes mother and Alexis like their girl time...you know to talk about GIRLY things."

"You're impossible." She felt a wide smile pulling at the edge of her lips. She hated how she couldn't stay mad at him.

"Can I take your coat and scarf? You look awfully out of place standing there fully clothed." He let an appraising glance run the length of her body.

"I should slap you for that." She barked. "To tell you the truth I really wasn't planning on staying long...I just wanted to see how you were. So I guess I'll be going now..." she turned to start towards the door, cursing inwardly the whole time.

He extended an arm to prop himself up against the door and slow her progress.

"B.S."

Her eyes widened and she let out a twitter of surprise. "What?"

"I'll bet my whole comic collection that you haven't eaten yet."

"Um...I..." she looked at him and sighed. He was right, she hadn't eaten yet, even at this late hour. He knew her too well.

"I keep my comic collection!" his voice was filled with glee. "I'm not letting you leave this apartment until you've eaten, Katherine Beckett." He waggled a finger at her.

"I would suggest Chinese but...ah.." he craned over her shoulder, his eyes seeking out the window. Fat flakes were spinning down outside at an alarming pace, flinging themselves like kamikaze planes against the windowpane. "It might be better to just make something here." He steered her begrudging form to the kitchen area.

"I am an excellent cook..." he quipped, turning to the freezer. "...when armed with a delicious, self rising FROZEN PIZZA." He whipped a Boboli box from the freezer and presented it to her as if he was showing off the prize to a game show contestant.

As much as she hated to admit it eating a slice of Boboli pizza with Castle didn't sound half bad.

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Just what I expected, Rachel Ray."

"You wound me." He put the Boboli box down on the counter and held out his arm.

"Hat, coat, scarf, gloves...piece?" he asked.

"WHAT?" she yelped, pinning an incredulous gaze at him from under knit brows.

"I was just seeing if you were paying attention. You had that misty Beckett-is-a-million miles-away look that you get when your mind is elsewhere."

She sighed. Her mind had been elsewhere. Her eyes drifted to the window. She had also been pondering the possibility of getting snowed in. Her mind rewound to their undercover kiss and how it had consumed her. Her lips had burned for days with its memory while her mind had been busy stuffing it away into a forgotten corner, down into a box clamped shut with a lock named fear. If he tried to kiss her tonight, she didn't know if she could focus enough to break away from his spell this time.

_I'll just catch a cab after we eat. It shouldn't be too bad out yet._

"Hello. Ground control to Kate Beckett? Are you going start taking some clothes off or what?" he waggled his eyebrows at her and was rewarded with a barrage of outwear hitting him square in the chest.

"AS YOU WISH." He intoned as he sailed over to the coat rack to hang up her things.

She chuckled at that but it wasn't without a note of uneasiness. A shadow of pain for him briefly drifted across her heart and she wrung her hands in front of her and raised an unsure gaze to his confident figure. How many times a day could he tell her he loved her without actually saying it?

She stepped over to help him.

"You stepped right into my trap, Detective." His voice was soft and threw her already teetering equilibrium off even more.

"What trap?"

He pointed to the top branch of the coat rack and beamed a cat-ate-the-canary smile at her.

"Mistletoe. Mother hangs it in the most unconventional of places to catch her gentleman caller's unawares." She was keenly aware of his warm blue eyes on her face.

She smiled at him, feigning confidence. "If you think..."

He held up a hand. "I know, I am just too irresistible, you wouldn't be able to just stop kissing me."

"Oh, quite the contrary Mister Castle. I have amazing self-control! I think you are the one who wouldn't be able to help yourself." The two partners were standing toe to toe now and she had made sure to lean a bit into his space at this statement.

"You obviously forget what a talented kisser I am, Detective." He moved his face closer to hers and she felt a blush bloom across her cheeks. She willed her heart to slow down it's frantic beating and hoped that her eyes didn't give her away.

"If I recall, it was you who was the puddle after that encounter." Her voice was a whisper now and she drew her face even closer to his.

"If I had been able to kiss you a little longer..." he took a step nearer. "I can guarantee you that your self control wouldn't matter a whit."

She didn't break her smoldering gaze away from his as she snaked his arms around his neck, a hubris filled half smile on her lips. She brought her lips inches from his and blinked her brown eyes innocently up at him.

"Try me, writer boy."

Just at that moment all the lights in the apartment flicked off.

"OW. Castle!" Kate groaned as he snapped his head up and accidentally bumped noses with her.

"Sorry, Kate. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sounded deflated. She was disappointed and relieved at the same time. She quickly shook the thought of their almost kiss out of her head.

"Hold on." He was rummaging in something in a basket underneath the coat rack. He popped up again quickly and came to stand in front of her, closer than he normally dared. His proximity was doing something to her tonight that she dare not give into and she had to take a couple of deep breaths to drive away the wayward thoughts that were drifting across her mind's eye.

He leaned in closer and she closed her eyes against his sudden nearness.

"You know there is only one thing to do when the lights go out!"

"Castle..." she started but then was taken aback by him suddenly turning a flashlight on his face. "Tell scary murder mystery stories! Muwhahaha."

"You really are an overgrown nine year old."

"Okay, we'll play board games and rummage for snacks then. Don't want to fool with that oven in the dark. Let's go find the candles!"

He led her across the room to a cabinet that contained a variety of candles. He tossed a long one at her and held up one he had procured for himself.

"Engarde! Care to engage in a fencing match, Beckett? You know all that _thrusting _and _parrying_ could lead to some epic- " She thrust the candle into his broad chest.

"Go wish on a star, Castle."

"What?" he shrugged innocently. "Battles. I was going to say epic battles."

"Sure you were, Romeo." She skulked off in the direction of the pantry.

"Wow. Do you ever eat in? All this stuff is-"

"Delicious?" he called from where he was diligently lighting candles.

"...so...I don't know-Bachelor pad appropriate." She paused. "Ho-hos? I feel like there is a joke in that, but I am not even going to touch it."

"Be nice. After all I am sharing my secret stash of delicious snack foods with you. You should feel special." All of the sudden he was behind her. "I have never done that with any other woman."

She looked at him and they traded unspoken words in the stillness for but a beat.

"I'm honored." Her tone was only half sarcastic this time.

He reached up to a top shelf and brought down a box and quickly hid it behind his back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll bet my lucky boxers that these were your favorite when you were a little girl." He revealed the box to her and her eyes widened.

"Lucky guess. Everyone loves butterscotch krimpets." She went to snatch the box from him and he plucked it out of her reach. "You have lucky boxers?" she jumped up and tried to snag the box again, and again he moved it out of her reach. "Why are you doing that?"

"What would you do-oooo-oo- for a BUTTERSCOTCH KRIMPET?" he sang to the tune of "what would you do for a Klondike bar."

She closed the space between them and the heat rolling off of her body was palpable. She pressed her lips close to his ear. He could feel the heat of her breath of his neck and goose bumps ran down the length of his spine at the nearness of its warmth. She pressed her body against his and wound one hand up to caress the side of his face.

"Rickyyyy," she purred. He swallowed hard and nodded at her as she moved her hand down to toy with a button on his nightshirt. "You're going to give me those butterscotch krimpets."

"Uh-huh." He lowered them and forked them over without protest.

"Men." She sighed with a wicked smile, "They fall for it every time." She gave his butt a little tap before absconding to the couch with the box of krimpets.

"Hey..." he yelped after he had shaken off the remnants of her spell. "So not fair! Damn your womanly wiles!"

"Yep, definitely worth rubbing myself all over you for." She managed between swallows of frosted pastry.

"I resent that." He turned around from the pantry to see her curled up on the couch. She had kicked her shoes off and let her hair down and was shoving her face with butterscotch krimpet. She had always been the kind of beauty that sucked all the air out of the room, but seeing her like that, so uninhibited in the candlelight in his apartment, on _his_ couch did something to him that he hadn't had done to him in a long time.

He grabbed the chex mix from the cabinet and wound his way over to her.

"Ladies choice...Monopoly or Risk?"

"Two people CANNOT play Risk."

"Haven't you ever seen that Seinfield episode?"

"Fine, we'll play Risk then." She cast an anxious glance at the window, "But after that I should catch a cab home."

"I can NOT let you do that. This weather is horrendous. I do have a guest bed you know. It will save you a lot of trouble."

She shot him a prickly look.

He crossed his heart with his pointer finger. "I promise I won't bother you once you're in bed." _Unless you want me to._

"Fine."

"Alright, so what are the stakes we are playing for?"

"Oh, there is going to be stakes?"

"You bet!"

"Okay then..." she thought for a beat. "If I win...I get...your Amazing Fantasy #15. You know, the one that is signed by Stan Lee?"

"Not a problem...because I am so gonna win this." He cracked his knuckles. "If I win...I get..." his eyes sparkled at her in the candlelight, "A kiss."

"The stakes are not equivalent!" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"They most certainly are madame. A kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world is worth my Amazing Fantasy number 15 any day."

"Fine, on the cheek." She uncrossed her arms,

"Agreed."

About an hour later Kate yawned and looked at Castle, a heaviness throwing itself across her lids.

She smiled sleepily at him.

"Can we continue this tomorrow?"

"You are trying to trick me with your cute countenance again, aren't you? Just because you know I am winning doesn't mean..."

She shook her head and leaned over to him, planting a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"There. You have Australia. You basically won anyway. Can I go to bed now?"

"I...uh..." he swallowed hard and blinked up at her. "Yes."

"Alright, goodnight Castle."

"Night Beckett."

"No funny business, remember?"

"No funny business." He repeated back.

Hours later Castle was startled awake by a soft knock as his door.

"Huhn?" he stirred in his large bed, kicking up the sheets and blankets around him.

"Castle?" it was a soft voice at the door and he was disoriented for a moment.

"Kate?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course." He started to get up to go open the door but she entered before he could even climb out of bed.

"Stay there." She commanded. Always obedient to her wishes, he did as he was told.

She rounded to the other side of the bed and drew back the covers.

"What are you doing? I thought you said no funny business?" his eyes were clear of sleep now and he was fully alert.

"Chill, Casanova. If you haven't noticed it is freezing in this apartment. Something must have happened to the heat. My feet are like ice, I just came to sleep somewhere a little warmer." A shadow fell across her face and he could see that her eyes were wild and watery. Wet tendrils stuck to her neck. She'd had a nightmare.

"Oh." He had to tell his pumping blood to slow. He patted the bed next to him.

She climbed into the bed with him and nestled her body up against his form. He stayed on his back, staring at the ceiling, his hands at his sides.

"Okay, rules. We _can_ snuggle a bit, but only because it is cold. And no wandering hands."

When she didn't move he positioned himself to be the big spoon and wrapped his large, muscular arms around her. She snuggled back into his warmth and was surprised by how safe she felt in the circle of his grip.

"This is just because it is freezing." She murmured.

"Strictly platonic." He answered, his breathing slowing.

He drifted off to sleep before she did. Her painful awareness of her attraction to him was haunting her. She heard a strangled snore from behind her and turned carefully to face him, and then she pressed her lips to his temple in the ghost of a kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Castle."


End file.
